1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to exercise mats, and relates particularly to yoga mats.
2. Background
Yoga, or Hatha Yoga, is commonly associated with a practice having mental and physical benefits for the human body. Practicing yoga postures releases chronic tension, lengthens and strengthens muscles, and increases self-awareness. Yoga participants routinely practice in bare feet on a non-skid surface. Practicing yoga safely involves beginning with proper or optimal body alignment. Teaching yoga effectively involves using both verbal and visual cues, as well as physically assisting a participant when in a studio setting.
Yoga is not generally available as an activity to the blind community, nor is yoga being shared at schools for the blind. Practicing yoga by the blind or visually impaired is challenging. A sense of body alignment is more challenging for the visually impaired than for a sighted person. Lack of visual reference points makes proper body alignment for yoga postures more difficult to achieve without physical assistance from an instructor. Balance during yoga postures can also be difficult for the visually impaired. These challenges can be frustrating to a visually impaired participant, and time consuming in a class setting.
3. Description of Prior Art
Yoga mats are available in many shapes, colors, designs, and materials. There exist exercise and yoga mat designs having graphics and grids to assist sighted persons in proper body alignment and to assess incremental improvements in flexibility. Using such graphical indicia, however, does not permit a visually impaired person to be sure of proper body alignment, nor to gage where he or she is located on a mat.
There are a number of patent documents that describe exercise and yoga mats.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,387,013 issued to Marquez (May 14, 2002) and titled “Exercise Alignment System,” discloses an exercise mat system for providing reference to an individual performing yoga exercises. The mat includes intersecting centerlines and several additional lines parallel to the centerlines. Marquez discloses an alternative embodiment that has extended side portions on opposite sides of the mat. While the mat of Marquez provides a visual reference for hand and feet position, this mat does not enable a visually impaired user to reference body placement on the mat during a yoga exercise.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,663,537 issued to McCoy (Dec. 16, 2003) and titled “Exercise Mat,” discloses a non-slip exercise mat for use on multiple surfaces. The mat includes anchor bars and hook and loop bottom surface at the mat ends as a means for removably adhering the mat to carpeted surfaces. The anchor bars are removed for using the mat on non-carpeted surfaces. While the mat of McCoy provides a measure of safety for yoga participants, the mat of McCoy does not provide a reference means for use by visually impaired yoga participants.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2003/0017915 by Prinzmetal (Jan. 23, 2003) and titled “Mat,” discloses a mat for use with floor exercises. The mat includes intersecting centerlines, a pair of hand references zones, and a pair of foot reference zones. Reference zones for hand and foot are made of vertical and horizontal utility strips. Utility strips may be fixed, or may be removable and repositionable to mark incremental improvements. While the mat of Prinzmetal can assist yoga participants with alignment and measurement, the mat of Prinzmetal does not assist a visually impaired person to identify location on a mat to assist in proper body alignment.
U.S. Patent Application Publication U.S. 2004/0214692 by Koenig (Oct. 28, 2004) and titled “Grid On An Exercise Product And Exercise System Therewith,” discloses an exercise mat having intersecting straight lines and sequential reference indicia. The mat of Koenig provides a grid of marks. Lines in the grid of marks can be visibly different in color, thickness and type (such as dashed lines), and can have a convex or concave protrusion from the surface of the exercise mat to differentiate one mark from another. The grid of lines may be used to assist in exercise alignment, to measure stretching progress from one week to another week, or to identify correct dance movements. While the mat of Koenig provides a simple, visual reference grid with some non-visual attributes, the visual indicia are necessary for proper use of the mat. The mat of Koenig does not provide the visually impaired an adequate means for easily, properly, and safely practicing complicated body positioning that yoga requires.
U.S. Patent Application Publication U.S. 200410229731 by Mitchell (Nov. 18, 2004) and titled “Exercise Mat With Printed Indicia Thereon,” discloses a low impact exercise mat. The exercise mat has two sets of printed indicia. One set of indicia is to identify a location on the mat, while the second set is used to identify direction on a mat. The mat can be used to follow an exercise regimen for associative learners, visual learners, mathematical learners, spatial learners, auditory learners, kinesthetic learners, interactive learners. The mat of Mitchell uses printed indicia and relies on visual cues. The mat of Mitchell does not enable a visually impaired person to achieve proper body alignment using the mat.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,935,382 issued to Buckley (Aug. 30, 2005) and titled “Exercise Rug With Contours,” discloses a woven exercise rug. The exercise rug has contours on an exercise surface to reduce the chance of a user slipping during an exercise. The woven material provides moisture relief and contours provide additional gripping for the user of the rug to help reduce the chance of slipping due to perspiration. Buckley, however, does not address the needs for establishing proper body alignment and enabling visually impaired users to identify proper positioning.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2006/0073305 by Kole (Apr. 6, 2006) and titled “Yoga Mat,” discloses a yoga mat having several arms. The yoga mat has a central segment from which a plurality of substantially equidistant arms extend outwardly. The mat of Kole enables a mat user to practice a variety of yoga positions without needing to reposition the mat. Kole, however, does not address the needs for establishing proper body alignment and enabling visually impaired users to identify proper positioning.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,108,635 issued to Howlett-Campanella (Sep. 19, 2006) and titled “Yoga Mat With Body Contact Placement Indicia,” discloses a mat having a symmetrical body placement guide. The guide is imprinted on an upper surface of the mat, and is used to aid a yoga participant with proper body alignment during yoga postures, as well as tracking flexibility progress. The body placement guide includes a pattern design, a longitudinal axis and transverse axis that define four quadrants. While the mat of Howlett-Campanella aids a sighted uses with alignment, this mat does not enable a visually impaired user to reference body placement on the mat during a yoga exercise.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,069,607 issued to Nichols (Jul. 4, 2006) and titled “Absorbent Towel With Projections,” discloses a yoga mat made from a towel. The towel includes a base layer and a plurality of raised projections that project away from the base layer. The projections are made from plastic, rubber, or epoxy and are used to provide grip to a floor surface. The top surface, as a towel material, is water absorbent to prevent slipping during yoga positions. The surface of the towel includes a focal region designed to be a visual focus point to assist with concentration and/or focus during the practice of yoga, martial arts or other sporting activities. While the towel of Nichols provides a measure of safety for yoga participants, the mat of McCoy does not provide a reference means for use by visually impaired yoga participants.
None of the above provides a yoga mat that enables visually impaired persons to safely and properly practice yoga. What is needed, therefore, is a yoga mat that overcomes the above-mentioned limitations and that enables visually impaired persons to identify correct hand and foot positioning without constant physical assistance from a yoga instructor.